"My heart goes out to the family,” she said. “It's a devastating situation. No parent can even imagine that happening to their child. Thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said they got a call Sunday morning of a missing child at the Greenfield Apartments in Ocala.

A Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said as far as they know, 1-year-old Wyatt Steed and his mother were in town from Palm Coast visiting a friend. The spokeswoman said Wyatt was out walking with a caregiver, getting some fresh air Sunday morning, when the boy wandered away.

Authorities say Wyatt fell into a backyard hole in the ground.

Marion County spokeswoman Lauren Lettelier, said, "The hole wasn't very big. It was 23 inches long and 30 inches wide. It seems like a freak incident. This hole opening up, and this 1-year-old falling inside. There was water at the bottom, but we don't know how deep it was at this time."

Authorities don't yet know how Wyatt fell in, or how long he was in that hole. Deputies immediately started CPR until medics came, but Wyatt died at the hospital around noon Sunday.

Brien has seen the child before.

"Full of life. Spunky little 1-year-old," is how Brien described the child. "Cute as can be."

Another neighbor, Louis Bloncourt said he wants to see this fixed.

"I definitely would now, especially knowing that the kids play back there," he said. "For sure."